Government Proposes 3% Salary Bump for Public Officers by October 1

October 1 is the date proposed by the Government to have public officers experience a three percent increase in salaries.  In a letter dated, May 21, and signed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Cordel Hyde, seven proposals were presented to the joint unions.  The first has to do with the Collective Bargaining Agreement tentatively slated to be executed on June 18.  The second bullet point has to do with outstanding transfer grants which government has agreed to pay.  Love News understands that in the previous agreement, the transfer grant stood at a one-time payment of 12 hundred dollars.  In the 2021/2024 agreement, that rate was adjusted to 15 hundred dollars, leaving government to pay out the difference of three hundred dollars to public officers and teachers who had been transferred.  The third proposal pertains to the minimum wage which the government has agreed to increase to six dollars following consultations with multiple stakeholders.  In this case, the minimum wage would go from five to six dollars.  As it relates to the increase in wages, government is proposing to the unions that a three percent increase be rolled out in less than five months with the unfreezing of one increment to roll out in the next fiscal year.  Whatever remaining percentage would be negotiated with the union with a goal to look at cost saving measures, pension reform and revenue enhancement.  Earlier today, Minister of Public Service, Henry Usher, spoke primarily on the wage increase and pension reform.

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “We are waiting to see their response. I believe that they had a meeting last night and we’re waiting to see their response to those proposals. We hope that we don’t get to level three. We hope that with these proposals, that these proposals are accepted, that the membership of the PSU, the membership of the BNTU and all of the broader teachers, public officers, that they can see that these are reasonable proposals. These are proposals that are sustainable. These are proposals that have come out of a level of discourse and respectful level of discourse around the table and as I always say it’s it’s always better to talk to each other than at each other. It’s a three percent salary adjustment starting in October and then in April or the start of the next fiscal year the unfreezing of one of the increments that were frozen during the COVID time so remember there were two increments that were frozen the unfreezing of one of those will be done or is being proposed to be done at the next fiscal year starting of course April 1st, 2026. And then the remaining conversation has to do with the 5.5 % since 3% is being done in October and the second increment. So that is where further discussion is needed. And of course you have to look at the performance of the economy. You have to look at the ability to be able to implement those salary adjustments going forward. But the idea and what we discussed around the table is that it will be done in a three year time frame.”

As part of the proposal, the government has also agreed to make it legal to have them take over one hundred percent of payment when it comes to pensions and gratuities at government-aided schools.  This would be retroactive to September 2024.  Finally, the letter notes that both the joint unions and the government representative would commit to have future negotiations be focused on quality of life and cost of living.  Among the factors to take into consideration would be land access, housing programs, income tax relief and educational opportunities.  We understand that the unions met as recent as last night, but are yet to respond to the government’s proposal.  Our calls to the BNTU President, Nadia Caliz went unanswered, but she did post up a video on social media this evening.  According to Caliz, the strike action remains on the table, and that the teachers are currently voting on the proposals from the government and will release its results shortly.  The pressures on the Briceno Administration came after a leaked government memo indicated that the Cabinet Secretary and Chief Executive Officers would be getting a salary increase.  Usher was asked if hindsight brought regrets on the salary increases.

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “Hindsight is 2020 and I’m not a Monday morning quarterback. I won’t go back and say we should have done this or should have done that differently. But what I can say is that if it was as simple as the CEO salaries then one item on the agenda when we met around the table we’ll remove the salary increase to CEOs and that should have brought us back to a level playing field. So certainly that was not the intention of government when we met with the unions. We met with them because we wanted to have a sustainable way in terms of looking at the salaries in the public service, salaries to public officers and teachers and that’s why another bullet point is the bullet point that speaks about the cost of living adjustment. At looking at the consumer price index to see how it is that we can have a formula to look at salaries every year that looks at the CPI, that looks at the cost of living adjustment maybe every year, every two years, whatever is agreed upon so that we don’t get to a situation where you have areas for the public service or teachers or anybody saying we want this increase, we want that increase. We know that an increase is coming because it’s based on a formula. Included in that discussion was looking at other areas that we can properly compensate our public officers perhaps looking at housing initiatives, looking at different areas that they can benefit from. We can’t always meet a numerical figure but we can always try to work with our public officers, with our teachers, with all of the public service to see how we can properly compensate, how we can have what’s the way Minister Fonseca put it, is that it’s a quality of living situation. We want a quality of life for our public officers, for our teachers, that is one that is respectable, one that is dignified, one that they can make sure that they can take care of all of their needs.  And that is what we have to look at. On the flip side of that is productivity. We have to make sure that our teachers, our public officers remain as productive as they are right now and to improve upon the efficiency of service, improve upon the productivity in all sectors.”

The proposals presented to the unions were approved by Cabinet on Tuesday, May 20.